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Sparks Fly Over
Wind Turbine Plan

Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
9/2/10
Discussion of the town’s wind turbine project heated up last week as officials prepare to present another facet of the project to Town Meeting on Sept. 20.

The end result was a Planning Board vote to support the Selectmen’s decision to establish a special zoning designation on the turbine site.

Town officials maintain that a wind turbine at the old landfill site off Randolph Avenue would be safe and noiseless, and produce valuable green energy for Milton. The primary opposition to the project has been from developers of Granite Links Golf Club, who say construction of a 400-foot-high turbine in their backyard would be a detriment to their business.

Granite Links, a 27-hole course that was recently voted one of the best in New England, has its greens on what used to be the town landfill, which is leased out from the town.

Granite Links officials say shadow effects from the turbine blades will impact 19 of the course’s 27 holes.

Opposing sides faced off for more than two hours during a public hearing held by the Planning Board on Aug. 26. The board was considering whether to endorse an article from Selectmen for Special Town Meeting on Sept. 20 that would set an as-of-right zoning designation on the turbine site. Under the zoning, the project could move forward without further review by the Planning Board. It would be up to the Selectmen and the Building Department to set appropriate mitigation measures.

Town Administrator Kevin Mearn said as-of-right zoning is one of the steps toward gaining designation as a “green” community under the state Green Communities Act.

“That is really the impetus of this article,” Mearn said.

Proponents of the turbine addressed several concerns raised about the project.

Charles “Chick” Geilich, one of Quarry Hills partners, said the town is “changing all of its own rules” by going for as-of-right zoning, which he said would skirt important public review of the project.

He recounted some of the public fights he and his partners went through to get the golf course built a decade ago. He said the bylaws have “served the town well in the past.”

“Now it appears you’re giving up the ability to make that review. And that’s upsetting to me,” Geilich said.

Geilich said in a subsequent phone interview with the Times that although Quarry Hills officials have discussed the possibility of legal action, none is planned at this time. “Because the town hasn’t actually done [construction] yet, we’re working with them to try to solve the problems that still exist,” he said.

Representing Quarry Hills, Matt Long, an engineer with Providence, R.I.-based Natural Resource Group, said at the meeting that the town is moving ahead with its plan for a wind turbine without adequate study.

“There are a number of issues that have not been addressed” including noise and environmental impact studies, he said.

Long said two turbines were recently put up in Falmouth and residents who live up to 2,000 feet away from them complain about the noise. The Milton turbine would be about 600 feet from the golf course and roughly twice that distance from the nearest home.

Rich Kleiman, chair of the town’s Wind Energy Committee, said the Falmouth turbines are not like the one Milton will be buying. He said the noise from the Falmouth turbines comes from one of the structures that was bought used and has structural flaws.

It sat on the docks in Louisiana for five years, he said. “That is not the case here. We are buying a brand-new turbine.”

Kleiman called claims that the town has not properly studied the turbine “not true.” He said the project has gained both state and federal approvals on environmental and archeological issues. The town’s Conservation Commission still needs to give its OK.

“We’ve done our homework,” said Kleiman. “We are confident this is a safe location for a turbine.”

Two separate Town Meeting articles, one to finance the turbine and another to establish zoning, have passed overwhelmingly.

In May, Town Meeting approved an eminent-domain taking, authorizing the town to reacquire rights to an access road in the leased property, which is needed to transport equipment to the turbine site.

Joe Hoy, who lives near the access road at 704 Randolph Ave., said he was worried that heavy equipment and construction would be a detriment to his wife’s stable business. He said his family uses the access road to hook up with horse trails in the Blue Hills.

“The access road is right behind our barn,” he said.

Hoy asked whether there have been studies as to the impact of turbine noise on horses. Kleiman said he was unaware of any.

A study done by Burlington-based KEMA, funded by a state grant, determined that the Milton turbine would produce marginal noise, Kleiman said.

Mearn suggested that more noise was being produced when the location was a landfill. “There were trucks coming and going all the time,” he said.

Then, when Granite Links was being built, “There was all kinds of construction going on,” Mearn said.

Mearn maintained that the town has always sought to keep the management team in the loop.

“Quarry Hills was notified as the first entity” when the town began considering a wind turbine, he said.

“These are issues we’ve been dealing with for years,” Mearn said.

Planning Board members said they have confidence in the process moving forward, and felt that as-of-right is an important step in gaining “green” status. The board voted unanimously to recommend that Town Meeting approve the article.

“I have a level of confidence in the people who have been working on this proposal,” said board member Peter Jackson.

Member Emily Innes said striving for a green community designation is a “worthy goal.”

Planning Board Chair Alex Whiteside said it would be important during the Town Meeting discussion to “give the people who decide the information they need.”

Town Meeting convenes Monday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Milton High School, 25 Gile Road.